Chapter 7: Hope and Pain

With promise comes faith, "... we have this hope as an anchor for our soul, sure and steadfast" Socrates said, " To ground hope on a false supposition, is like trusting to a weak anchor."Hebrews 6:11-19, " ... we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you." And so, after he patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, ..."We can have faith without proof, but you cannot have hope without promise. Whereas faith opposes reason, hope opposes emotion. The dilemmas we face when confronted by our fears unless dealt with will lead to either some form of dysfunction, a developed mindset to avoid pain or a belief and hope in a better outcome.Hope assumes a meta narrative, a story that serves as a promise or reason for expecting a better future."In many traditional Christian texts, the word 'hope' is an indication of certainty and a positive expectation of future reward. “Hope” in the Bible means “a strong and confident expectation.” In the book of Romans, Paul, argued that hope was a support and a source of comfort and expectation of salvation. Romans 8:24-25 states "For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it". We are saved in hope, by hope, for hope. We are kept, preserved and sustained throughout life by hope.According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, hope is a "trustful expectation, particularly with reference to the fulfillment of God's promises. Hope, is the anticipation of a favorable outcome under God's guidance[;]... the confidence that what God has done for us in the past guarantees our participation in what God will do in the future. The concept is considered one of the three theological virtues of the Christian religion. "Hope is an essential and fundamental element of Christian life, so essential indeed, that, like faith and love, it can itself designate the essence of Christianity".Hope is our sense of purpose and resolve anchored by the expectation we have of receiving from the hand of God all the 'good' we 'need' in the troubles and adversities of this life. Life would be and is intolerable without hope, without a well-grounded expectation, without knowledge that certain wishes and desires are necessarily future distant considerations, delayed for a time certain. We must then wait upon a faithful God Who has promised, patiently enduring the common ailments of life and whatever trials and tribulations we are exposed to, for we know 'in Whom we have our trust'. In this life we must face the realities of pain, suffering, impurity, deformity and infirmity as a result of the wickedness and perversion of man. In this life we must face the destruction and desolation of a world in turmoil. It is enough to make a man despair for his life and future. Even as Christians we must face these things, however, we have been brought into a state of assurance, a place where although we may not be safe, we can have comfort in hope. Hope must look beyond our current state of affairs, our status quo, our sense of enjoyment or any vain expectation of finding satisfaction in the things of this world, "the things of time and sense". "For by hope we live." "We are preserved by hope." Hope defends the soul in the midst of trials, hope enables the soul to be capable of enduring and continuing on in light of the agitations and vexations. Hope assures despite despair.